About

What is “God: An Autobiography?”

Although there is a bit of my personal story here, the substance is God’s story, as I received it in prayer. Even the title, God: An Autobiography, was given to me in prayer. I added the subtitle, As Told to a Philosopher. What I was told ranged far beyond anything I ever would have imagined on my own.

I do not feel like a prophet, and am certainly not a saint, so one day I asked God what my role was. The answer: to be “a serious reporter of what you are told when you pray.” That is what I have done here.

Why this Website?

The purpose here is to share sections of the book and to start a conversation about God.

Your comments will be important, and I will respond as time permits. I am not the only person who hears from God. We all do, often in ways we do not realize. I hope you will share with us your own moments of divine presence.

Who Am I?

I have had a long and satisfying career, serving as chair of the philosophy department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and subsequently as acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to scholarly publications, I have testified before Congress on educational policy and appeared on “World News Tonight” and other television news programs. This was the “100% secular” life that was interrupted by hearing the divine voice.

My wife, Abigail, is also a former philosophy professor. She has three books to her credit, published under her maiden name, Rosenthal. You will meet her in chapter one.

4 thoughts on “About”

We are all tuned to different frequencies. Simply because you change the station does not mean the station has stopped broadcasting. Religion and beliefs, they are all our “stations” and God broadcasts differently for each of us. For a being who claims not to believe in God, I ask them this, by your non belief/denial etc. aren’t you acknowledging there is a God you choose NOT to believe in?
Show me a man, who has created galaxies and universes, planets and original life forms, without splicing two things to make something new. Man is NOT God, but, we are a reflection of him/her/it/them etc. I have had my own personal experiences, and for what it is worth, you don’t have to believe, he loves you anyways. However, you will be in for one heck of a shock when you cross the great divide 😉

Alice, I like your image of being tuned to different frequencies. You might be able to get God on different (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, etc.) stations. Sometimes when I pray, it seems as if there is static, just like the radio. The challenge of the spiritual life is learning how to “tune in” to God and finding the station where you personally get the best reception. Thanks for sharing.

2 different people can view the same event and come to different conclusions, obviously. If one is predisposed to believe that there is a god of some sort, then he can view the event as one caused by god. despite any evidence to the contrary, despite the natural evidence. There can be no god and that doesn’t make any difference. One can “hear the voices” and nothing is there, but in that person’s mind.

If I had not had the experience, I might
say something similar, but probably would not have. I was an agnostic; you
sound like an atheist. It had never dawned on me that, even if there were a
God, it would be the sort of God who could speak to me personally. But I
was also an empiricist — theories must fit experience, not the other way
around. Obviously, one can heard a voice, when nothing is there, but
sometimes there is something there and you just sorta know it, the way you
can usually tell whether you are awake or not, or whether you remembered
something or just imagined it.

Trust your experiences too much and you can
be gullible; trust them too little and you can miss what life is really
about.

What Other People Are Saying About the Book…

Once I finished a draft of the book, I asked people I knew – some I knew well and some I had only recently met -- to take a look and give me some quick comments. I pointedly did not ask for praise, but for “honest responses,” since only those would be helpful in editing the book. Here are excerpts from their comments.
-----------------------------------------

“This work has the potential to be the most influential book in our time. It exudes spiritual authenticity as it is well-grounded in human experience. It advances a way to embrace spirituality in oneself. As your own experience, the work is anchored in our time, our experience.”- Celeste Colgan, Ph.D. (English), former Deputy Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

-----------------------------------------

“If there is a God, this is what he sounds like.”- Stephen H. Balch, Founding President, National Association of Scholars

-----------------------------------------

“Thanks for this wonderful gift. This is a remarkable document. I’m only two-thirds though, and I’m anxious to see how things turn out.”- Wesley Morriston, Ph.D. (Philosophy), Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado at Boulder; Board Member, Society of Christian Philosophers)

-----------------------------------------

“I am reading your draft slowly as a devotional and am so full of thoughts and feelings about it that it is hard to know where to begin. I think this is very important. Much of it sounds like God to me, sounds like how what I take to be God sounds in those moments when I am in touch (and I am struck by how very in-touch you are, how constantly). The freshness of the talk, so fresh it makes you laugh -- I experience God that way. The wisdom. The love. The reproach when necessary (how God exits when ego enters).”- Jeanine Diller, Ph.D. (Philosophy), Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Toledo

-----------------------------------------

“It is one of the most intriguing, unusual, passionate things I have ever read. It is very special.”- Matthew Foster, Ph.D. (Theology), Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Molloy College

Tweets

Your journey starts here.

Copyright 2016 -
God: An Autobiography by Jerry L. Martin. - All Rights Reserved. - Content may not be used without permission of the author.